Bobbin driving means for textile speed frames



Nov. 28, 1961 H. SCOWCROFT 3,010,274

BOBBIN DRIVING MEANS FOR TEXTILE SPEED FRAMES Filed Aug. 19, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 171 1.9 16 1.9 171 19 151 1 II I A I" Nov. 28, 1961 H. scowcRoFT 3,010,274

BOBBIN DRIVING MEANS FOR TEXTILE SPEED FRAMES Filed Aug. 19, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllllll f HaMToE United States Patent Ofihce 3,610,274 Patented Nov. 28., 1961 Claims It is well known that when winding roving upon bobbins on textile speed frames, the speed ratio between the fiyers and bobbins must be varied, and very closely controlled as the bobbins build up from empty to full, in order to accommodate rovings delivery at a constant speed to bobbins which are progressively increasing in diameter The usual method of accomplishing this speed control to vary the speed of the bobbin by driving it through the medium of a variable gear comprising a pair of cone drums connected by a belt which is moved m progressive steps from one end of the drums to the other, the number of steps and the distance travelled at each step being controlled by a building motion which can be preset to provide conditions for Winding the roving upon the bobbins without ratch.

It has long been establ shed that a graph of the bobbin speed range is not a straight line, but a curve. Accordingly where machine design provides for the cone drum belt to be moved in steps of equal length, the cone drums are not straight-sided, but curved to compensate for the bobbin speed requirements; alternatively, where the machine design provides straight-sided cones, the cone drum belt is usually moved in steps of varying length to provide the curved output speed graph required by the bobbins. While it is recognized that years of practice have evolved cone drum shapes and cone beltmoving mechanism which are able to provide fairly accurate control for most normal requirements by the judic ous use of change wheels and the like, modern practices requiring high-tension winding, the use of larger packages than hitherto, and the use of synthetic materials frequently demonstrate the limitations of existing mechanisms for bobbin speed control which, because of the wide ranges of bank and materials processed, must be based on a compromise which is the optimum for an overall range of machines, and therefore not necessarily ideal for any particular machine in the range.

With the object of providing means whereby a secondary degree of control over the bobbin-driving mechamsm may be achieved in such manner as to permit the winding tension to be corrected at any stage in the build of the bobbins, the present invention proposes the use of auxiliary mechanism, associated with the cone-belt fork shifting means, whereby the extent of a primary adjustment of said fork indexed by the building motion may be augmented or reduced automatically by a desired amount at any point in the traverse of the fork.

Such auxiliary mechanism may include a cam, the shape of which is-capable of adjustment, which operates throughout the build to control means by which the datum setting of the belt fork in relation to the building motion output element is varied as required. Said cam may be fixed upon the machine frame, cam-follower means on a moving member associated with the building motion output element being arranged to traverse said fixed cam as said member moves between the extreme positions of the cone belt fork. Preferably, the shape of the cam is adjustable, so that its characteristics may be varied to suit different spinning conditions.

An embodiment of the invention, as applied to the cone drum belt shifting mechanism of a conventional cotton speed frame, is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the automatic mechanism for imposing a secondary motion upon the primary motion of the belt-shifting fork, and FIG. 2 is a detail illustrating a part of the adjustable cam in longitudinal elevation. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the mechanical connections between the building motion and the spindle and bobbin drives.

in said drawings, the numeral 10 designates the rack which is conventionally mounted in textile speed frames, with capability of sliding movement in a longitudinal direction of the frame and through which the primary motion is transmitted to the belt shifting member (the saddle of which is shown at 11) in responseto the operation of a building motion, the operative movements of which are customarily applied to the rack through a gear 62 meshing with the rack teeth 101. The movement of the rack 10 is effected progressively during the build of the bobbins. The saddle 11 is slidable on the rack in.

At a point on the rack 10 remote from the saddle 11 is a lug 12 on which is pivotally mounted a bell-crank lever 13, 14 the arm 13 of which is slotted at 131 and arranged to engage by said slot a roller 15 which is rotatably mounted on a rod 16 (termed the auxiliary control rod) which is slidable on the rack 10 and which is attached at the otherend to the aforesaid saddle 11 by a setscrew and slot connection 161 providing for pre setting adjustment of the datum position of the saddle 11 in relation to the rod 16.

The other arm 14 of the bell-crank lever normally occupies a substantially horizontal position. At its extremity are two vertically spaced cam-followers bowls 141, 142 which are arranged to cooperate with the upper and lower surfaces of a cam-rail 17 mounted on a member 18 of the machine frame, (FIG. 2) the effective length of said cam-rail 17 being equal to the traverse of the cone-belt fork between its extreme positions occupied respectively at the commencement and completion of a bobbin build.

The cam-rail 17 is composed of a number of articulated sections 171 each of which is aflixed to the frame-member 18 by bolts and nuts 19 passing through vertical slots 181 in the latter so as to be capable of a wide range of adjustment in a vertical direction. In order to ensure a smooth movement of the cam-follower bowls 141, 142 from one section 171 of the cam-nail to another, adjacent sections may have intenfi-tting concave and-convex abutting surfaces as shown at 20, providing an uninterrupted track whilst enabling the relating angular settings of the adjacent sections 171 to be varied as desired.

The flyer spindles 23 carry gears 24 which mesh with skew gears 25 fixed on a shaft 26 which is driven by chain-andsprocket gearing 27, 28, 2 from a shaft 30 which is itself driven through gears 3-1, 32, 33 and a belt drive 34, 35, 36 by an electric motor 37. The shaft 30 also carries a gear 33 which through a change-wheel 39 drives a gear 40 on a shaft 41 on which is mounted the top cone belt drurn 42, from which motion is transmitted to the bottom cone belt drum 43 through the belt 44 in conventional fashion. The drum 43 drives the shaft 45 through the gear-train 4-6, 47, providing a variable speed input for the differential mechanism 48 with which the shaft 45 is connected through the gear train 49, 56, 51 and 52. A sprocket 53, which is mounted on the diderential mechanism output member 54 is coupled by a chain 55 with a sprocket 56 which is on a shaft 57 carrying skew gears 58 meshing with gears 59 on the bobbin spindles 6d. The customary constant speed input for the differential mechanism is of course derived from the shaft 30.

The rack 10 is driven from the vertical shaft 61 which carries a pinion 62 meshing with the rack teeth 1G1.

Said shaft 61 carries a sheave 63 over which is wound a chain 64, the end of which is suspended over a pulley 65 and carries a weight 66. The latter tends to rotate the shaft 61 and, by moving the rack 19, to adjust the position of the belt 44 on the drums 42, 43. A ratchet wheel 67 is geared to the shaft 61 and the latter is normally prevented from rotating by catchm 68, 68 which alternately engage with the ratchet wheel 67 in the wellknown manner to prevent movement of the rack except when one or other of said catches 68 is operated when the bobbin rail reaches the end of its traverse.

When the machine is initially set up, with a building motion having the required set of gears for a given size of bobbin, the cam-rail sections 171 are at first arranged to provide a horizontal cam track, giving the normal degree of control of the belt fork customary in a conventional machine. 1

If, however, it is now found that the winding tension van'es at any point or points during the build of the bobbins, one or more of the cam-rail sections 171 is adjusted upwardly or downwardly, so that the resultant deflection of the bell crank lever 13, 14 will operate the auxiliary control rod 16 and thereby advance or retard the belt fork saddle 11 with respect to its datum posi- 7 frame and provided with an adjusting screw 21 mounted in a frame-member 22. Such an arrangement is particularly useful to compensate for small changes in spinning conditions which may arise, e.g., from fluctuations in humidity. This device may also be used instead of substituting a different builder wheel where a difference of one or two teeth is required.

What I claim as my invention and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A textile speed frame having cone belt-shifting means, comprising in conjunction with means for effecting primary adjustment of said cone belt-shifting means in response to a bobbin building motion, auxiliary mechanism associated with said belt-shifting means, whereby the extent of a primaryadjustment thereof may be augmented or reduced automatically by adesired amount at any point in the traverse of said belt-shifting means, said auxiliary mechanism including a cam, cam-follower means mounted on a moving member associated with the building motion output element and'arranged to traverse said cam between extreme positions of the belt-shifting means, the movement impartedby said cam through the cam-follower to said moving'member being effective to control the datum setting of the belt-shifting means in relation to said output element.

2. A textile speed frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cam is adjustable ,to vary the secondary control motion desired therefrom;

3. A textile speed frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shape of the cam is; adjustable, means being provided for fixing the cam in any desired setting.

4. A textile speed frame having cone belt-shifting means, comprising in conjunction with means for effecting primary adjustment of said cone belt-shifting means in response to a bobbin building motion, auxiliary mechanism associated with said' belt-shifting means, whereby the extent of a primary adjustment thereof may be augmented or reduced automatically by a desired amount at any point in the traverse of said belt-shifting means, the cone belt being shifted in response to the bobbin. building motion by a fork mounted upon a longitudinally slidable rack, comprising means for slidable adjustment of said fork on said rack, said auxiliary mechanism comprising an auxiliary control rod slidable on said rack, a lever pivotably mounted on the rack and in operative connection with said control rod, and a cam-trackextend ing throughout the range of movement of the rack between extreme positions of the. belt fork, said lever also carrying cam-follower means in cooperative engagement with said cam-track so thatvariations in the shape of the latter impart secondary motion to the auxiliary control rod for adjusting the position of the belt fork.

5. A textile speed frame as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cam track is constituted by a shaped rail aflixed to a member of the machine frame. I

6. A textile speed frame as claimed in claim 5, wherein the cam-track rail is composed of articulated sections individually mounted on a member of the frame with capability of vertical. adjustment therein to vary the shape of the cam. 7 1

7; A textile speed frame as claimed in claim 6, wherein adjacent c am-track rail sections have inter-fitting concave and convex abutting surfaces for the purpose stated.

8. A textile speed frame as claimed in claim 5, wherein means are provided for adjusting the datum position of said member of the machine frame for the purpose References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,901,882 Granberry Sept. 1, 1959 

